


Either Way

by TVDramaQueen



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: 2016-2017 NHL Season, Angst with a Happy Ending, M/M, Mpreg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-09-27
Updated: 2017-09-27
Packaged: 2019-01-05 22:49:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,032
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12198954
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TVDramaQueen/pseuds/TVDramaQueen
Summary: Carey always wanted a happy ending.





	Either Way

Shea Weber always wanted to be a father.

He loved kids, almost as much as he loved hockey. He loved mentoring kids and he loved holding babies for press stuff. He always imagined having kids once he was older.  
Ryan Suter did not want kids.

Ryan never liked talking about kids with Shea. He always brushed off the conversation or tried to change the subject. He didn’t interact great with kids when he was obligated to. He did not have the same future plans as Shea had thought they would share together.

But then Ryan leaves to Minnesota and Shea is left to restart his love life. After years of thinking he knew Ryan, he was completely wrong. Ryan was a liar and a cheater. And Shea should have known all a long he would run to Zach in a heartbeat, given the chance.

But then one day Shea gets a phone call that changes his life forever.

“You’re going to be a dad.”

-

Carey was thrilled the day he and PK found out they were expecting. After all the ups and down they had been having over the last while, with his injuries and the pressure on PK, they were finally getting some good news. Though it wasn’t planned, Carey was over joyed that to the possibility of becoming a parent. 

Baby fever had definitely been taking over of late, first with Markov announcing the upcoming birth of his daughter, and then Max just recently having another baby of his own, even Petry had a mini-me crawling around after him in the locker room. Carey had always imagined having a big family some day, and PK was so great with kids, it made perfect sense for the two of them to become parents.

But things didn’t stay happy and bubbly like in the movies. 

PK continued to let the critiques hinder his play and his mood on and off the ice. And Carey’s injury didn’t get any better, only worse. The team was falling more and more each week and their relationship was suffering very similar blows.

But then Liv was born, and both parents were ecstatic. PK let the trade rumors drain out and put all his time into Carey and Liv. They went out to the cabin in BC and just got away from everything.

Until PK was traded. For Shea Weber. To Nashville.

And then Carey was alone, with PK in Nashville. Alone with a baby and a promise that would soon be broken, to keep their family together.

-

“Bailey is a weird name for a boy.” Nealer said as he stared down at baby Bailey in the basinet.

“It’s cute.” Fisher disagreed.

“It’s a girl’s name.” Nealer shot back, earning a glare from Joey beside him.

“It’s country. He’s a Nashville product, he needed a Nashville-esque name.” Shea replies, watching as the three peer down at the baby before them, like he’s some forging creature to them, even though Mike has his own baby at home.

“I thought you said he was born in Minnesota?” Nealer asks

Weber glares “I don’t care about that. He is a Nashville baby. Period.”

“Okay, sheesh.” Nealer replied, throwing his hands up in defence.

“If Ryan isn’t going to be involved, then he shouldn’t have a say in this kid. So, I can decide to change his birth place.”

Ryan had decided that, since the baby was not his and Zach’s, that Shea should be the one to raise him while he went off and started his new life with Zach. It was either that or abortion, and Shea instantly shot that down. He didn’t care that Ryan didn’t want to be in Bailey’s life, it just gave him another reason to not stay in touch with Ryan any longer. Ryan could go off and be happy with Zach and they could have their own stupid, ugly Minnesota babies that would have no association with Bailey.

Bailey was a pretty simple baby. It almost seemed like he could sense all the shit Shea was going through and trying to make things easier on him. He looked a lot like a Weber baby so far, and Shea hoped it stayed that way. 

It definitely helped to have guys on his team that were very helpful and supportive. Josi and Forsberg were always attempting to babysit (Key word: Attempting) and Nealer had some practice from back in Pittsburgh and was really good at googling stuff that neither of them had any idea about.

The strangest help had been from Joey though. Even though he had been in Nashville all of a couple months, he came back to Shea’s condo almost every day and night after practices and games and helped around the house or with Bailey or just to hang out with Shea. It was weird, seeing as he barley even knew Joey before this. But he definitely wouldn’t give it up, it was nice to have an adult around after hours of senseless baby talk with Bailey at night.

It didn’t take long for something to happen between the two. Shea was expecting it at all, but one night after a brutal win he and Joey slipped into one of the supply closets and exchanged blow jobs. Then Shea went home and sang country music to Bailey to help him fall asleep.  
It kept happening after that. Joey would come over to help with Bailey and once he was sleeping they would wander down the hall to Shea’s room. Sometimes it would happen on the road, if Joey could get Nealer to leave him alone for a solid 30 minutes or if Shea could get away from Fish and Nystrom long enough. Sometimes, if they hadn’t had a chance to do much for a couple of days, they would sneak back into the supply closet to have a quick one after practice. It was nice, a good way to get his mind off of the team and Bailey and Ryan.

Then they lost to San Jose in game 7.

It took Shea forever to leave the dressing room. Almost as long as James, who was only waiting that long to avoid running into Martin before he left the arena. Once he finally got home, he spent the whole night curled up with Bailey on the couch, rewatching Sportsnet over and over again as they talked about the Preds exit and the future of the team.  
Shea was heading back to BC, taking Bailey to finally meet his parents after so long, excited to have the break.

And then he got the call.

“You’ve been traded to Montreal.”

-

For the third night that week, Shea had woken up to a baby crying.

It wasn’t Bailey. Bailey was out-growing the stay up all night phase and sleeping through the majority of the night now. He knew it was coming from upstairs and he couldn’t help it when he grabbed his phone, keys and baby monitor and headed upstairs to check it out.

Shea knocked on the door he heard the crying coming from. He hesitated at first, worried that an angry dad was going to appear from behind it and whoop his exhausted ass for checking in on them. But it had been three straight nights and Shea really, really needed sleep for his first practice with the Canadiens tomorrow.

For someone with a lack of sleep, he was a lot more shocked than he expected to be when Price opened the door in front of him.

But, with the lack of sleep, it wasn’t that unexpected, he felt, when he shook his hand in front of Carey’s face to make sure he wasn’t just dreaming.

“Hi to you too?” Carey replied, bouncing the baby in his right arm, left holding a bottle half full of milk.

“Sorry, just, I didn’t know we lived in the same building.”

Carey laughed lightly “Really? I guess I should have come and said hello when I saw you moving in. I just assumed Chucky and Gally would have said something when they were helping you.”

“They aren’t the brightest.”

“No, they are not.” Carey agreed, then abruptly looked down at the baby “Sorry if she’s been keeping you up. I am not as good at this as I had hoped.” 

“Your only as good as your word.” Shea replied, then added “Do you want some help?”

Carey’s face lifted immensely “Seriously? Thank you so much.”

They went inside and Shea took the bottle and the baby from Carey and sat in the rocker next to the couch while Carey sat and watched. When Shea looked up from the eating baby, Carey was watching almost fascinated with how he got her to calm down so easily.

“I have a lot of practice. From, you know, my son.”

“Oh, that’s right. I’m sorry I haven’t slept since, like August.”

“August?”

“She just, cries, all the time. And when she stops crying she starts screaming and I start crying. I think I’m going to go insane before I even have a chance to get back on the ice.”

“Well, you don’t have any help? Anyone on the team?”

“Not really. PK’s gone and all the other guys are either married with their own kids to take care off or too young for me to trust them with her.”

Shea nods, still comprehending all this. He didn’t even know Carey had a daughter. He assumes, because of the context of the conversation, that Carey meant that PK is the other father, which, makes sense. She looks kind of like an angry PK.

When Shea looks up he snorts as he sees Carey drifting off across from him. He get’s up once the baby is done and puts her in the crib in Carey’s bedroom and then walks back out into the living room and pulls a blanket from the back of the couch over Carey. He sits in the rocker and slowly, lets himself rock back to sleep, baby monitor close to listen for Bailey of course.

-

Carey wakes up later to find Shea sleeping with Liv in his arms in the rocker, Liv playing with the gold chain of his neckless. He smiles, happy he finally got to sleep for more then 2 hours at a time. Shea doesn’t seem bothered at all by having to stay and watch Liv while Carey slept. But Bailey does, angrily gurgling on the baby monitor.

Carey shakes Shea lightly enough to wake him but not upset Liv. He jumps slightly but sighs when he realizes what’s up. He hands over Liv and grabs his things to head back upstairs.

“You know, if you ever need any help, I’m around.”

Carey smiles and nods, watches as Shea heads upstairs.

-

Shea continues to help Carey after that. At night, when he can hear faint crying from upstairs, he often goes to check on the two and see if Carey wants help, which, he always does. He often brings Bailey over after practice to hang out with Carey and Liv and have baby playdates. Even though Bailey was almost a year older than Liv, he seemed to enjoy having the company of another baby for once, seeing as there weren’t really any other babies in the Preds organization.

As things continued on, Shea and Carey grew closer. Longing looks, long late-night talks while trying to get Liv to sleep, fall walks with the kids while Shea walked Doug. It almost felt like a family.

But Shea was always scared to push things further. He still wasn’t sure where things stood between Carey and PK, and he didn’t want to hurt the team with a potential break up, like he did in Nashville. Shea was extremely cautious, not only for his own sake, but Bailey’s as well.

As Christmas approached, Bailey turned one, and Shea had a party for his first birthday with the team. All the guys brought their wives and babies, and even the young guys played and threw Bailey around in the ball pit for awhile.

“You and Carey make such a cute couple by the way.” 

Shea turned to the left to see Mrs. Pacioretty beside him, smiling, and watching Carey sliding down the slide with both Bailey and Liv in his arms. 

“We aren’t dating.”

“You aren’t? But Max said-“

“Max said?”

“Yes!” She responded, “When I asked him about your significant other, Max said you and Carey had just started dating.”

Shea gave her a quizzical look “Just started dating?”

“He said it must have bee shortly after you got to Montreal, since you and Carey have spent so much time together. But I guess he was wrong. I’m so sorry!”

Shea smiled and reassured her it was fine. But he wasn’t. He didn’t realize how obvious his feelings were for Carey, and began to wonder who else on the team could see right through him.

Later that night, back at his apartment as he and Brendan were unpacking all of Bailey’s new toys, he broached the topic.

“Do you, um, know about Carey and-“

“Carey and you?” Brendan asked “Yeah, you guys aren’t very sneaky.”

“What was your first clue?” Shea asked, turning to continue to unpack

“Well it was just obvious. The way you guys talk to each other, how often you hang out, the way you look at each other. Reminds me of early Carey and PK.”

“Wait,” Shea paused him “The way Carey and I look at each other? Mutually?”

“Dude have you never noticed? He looks like a love-sick puppy around you.”

Carey felt the same way? Shea couldn’t believe it. Brendan must have been losing it, but then again, did he ever have it all together in the first place?

-

All star weekend arrived faster than expected, and both Shea and Carey were to go and represent their teams. Shea planned on bringing Bailey, even with Ryan there. He knew Ryan wouldn’t approach them, especially with the rumor going around that he and Zach were now engaged. But when Carey mentioned bring Liv as well, Shea was somewhat caught off guard.

“I didn’t expect you to bring her.” He replied as he continued to change for practice.

Carey shrugged “I honestly hadn’t planned on it either. It was PK’s idea.”

Shea’s facial expression dropped. “Oh, that’s… nice”

Like he thought all along, things weren’t meant to be with Carey. Carey was still with PK, or, they had something. He obviously wanted family time this weekend, which was perfect, because Shea could get drunk and drown his feelings.

But of course that wasn’t what was going to happen. Instead, two weeks later, he and Carey and Bailey and Liv were flying off to Los Angeles. Bailey hated the plane ride, like he had when they flew to Montreal the first time, but Liv was loving the flight, all over the window from take off until landing, watching the clouds pass them by.

As they arrived at the hotel, it didn’t take long for Shea and Bailey to be surrounded by media and other NHL players wanting to see his baby and catch up. By the time he finally got a chance to get away, Carey was long gone, probably with PK.

Shea sighed and decided they should head upstairs and unpack. He lifted Bailey back up and headed towards their room.

It didn’t take long for him to be dealing with a toddler that found a new love for jumping from bed to bed, so he spent the next 15 minutes pushing the bed together so Bailey wouldn’t fall to his unfortunate grievance. While he was entertaining his 14 month-old, he missed a call on his phone, but before he could check who it was there was a knock upon his door.

As he opened it up, he was quite surprised to see Carey in front of him, looking quite blue, almost like the first night in Montreal.

“Hi. What’s wrong?”

“Just uh, not feeling so great.”

“Where’s Liv?” Shea asked, allowing Carey to walk into the hotel room and collapse and the arm chair by the desk.

“With PK… and Johansen.”

“Ryan Johansen?”

“Yup. Her new stepdad.”

And that’s when it all clicked for Shea. PK wasn’t around because they were no longer together. PK was Carey’s Ryan, left him to raise his child alone, and ran off to the next hot, new thing. PK wanted Carey to bring Liv, likely to flaunt her around in front of his new boyfriend to create a good impression, and Carey obviously had no idea.

“I thought he wanted to see her, to actually see her.” Carey said later that night, when Bailey was tucked into bed, whipped out from all the jumping and excitement of the trip. “All he wanted was to show off to Ryan.”

“I’m sorry.” Shea answered.

“It’s alright. I should’ve known. He’s never wanted to see her until now. It’s not even like I wanted things to work out with us, I just don’t’ want her to grow up without two parents.”

“Well,” Shea started, coming to join Carey at the table by the window “She doesn’t have to.”

Carey looked at Shea, and Shea could see the wheels turning in his head. Shea laughed, and instead of waiting for Carey to process his offer, he leaned over and kissed him.

-

Everyone cheered as Liv blew out the candles (finally) on her birthday cake. Carey whipped a stray tear from his eye and smiled. His baby girl was one, and he had everything he always wanted.

He had the prefect lake house out in BC, perfect for his off season relaxation, a brand new contract with the Montreal Canadiens, to keep him and Liv with some stability, an amazing team full of great guys who always supported him and his family,

And Shea.

Shea was the greatest man anyone could have in their lives. He was an amazing father to Bailey and a great role model for Liv. And even if PK didn’t want any real involvement with Liv, Carey didn’t care, because she as Shea. 

And Carey had his happily ever after.  
.

**Author's Note:**

> So I recently got back into writing. I haven't done any in so long. Hopefully this is the first of many to come again. Thank you for reading!


End file.
